The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid is a 1984 American martial arts drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by Robert Mark Kamen. It is the first film in The Karate Kid franchise. The film stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and William Zabka. The story follows Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), an Italian-American teenager from New Jersey who moves with his widowed mother to the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles. There, LaRusso encounters harassment from bullies, one of whom is Johnny Lawrence (Zabka), the ex-boyfriend of LaRusso's love interest, Ali Mills (Shue). LaRusso is taught karate by handyman and war veteran Mr. Miyagi (Morita) to help LaRusso defend himself and compete in a karate tournament against his bullies.

Kamen was approached by Columbia Pictures to compose a film similar to Avildsen's previous success Rocky (1976), after Columbia signed the director. Kamen drew inspiration from the real-life events of an eight-year-old Tum Pai student's story in Hawaii when writing the film. Preparations for the film began immediately after the final edit of the script was complete, and casting took place between April and June 1983. Principal photography began on October 31, 1983, in Los Angeles and was completed by December 16. The film was Macchio's second major film role, following The Outsiders (1983).

The Karate Kid was theatrically released in the United States on June 22, 1984. It received positive reviews from critics, many of whom praised the action sequences, writing, themes, performances, and music. The film was also a commercial success, grossing over worldwide, making it one of the highest-grossing films of 1984 and Hollywood's biggest sleeper hit of the year. The Karate Kid revitalized the acting career of Morita, who was previously known mostly for comedic roles, and it earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film subsequently launched a media franchise and is credited for popularizing karate in the United States.

In 2025, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."

Plot

In 1984, 17-year-old Daniel LaRusso and his mother Lucille move from Newark, New Jersey, to Reseda, Los Angeles, California. Their apartment's handyman is an eccentric, but kind and humble Okinawan immigrant named Nariyoshi Miyagi.

At a beach party the next day, Daniel meets and befriends Ali Mills, a high school cheerleader from Encino, drawing the attention of her arrogant ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence, a black belt and the top student from the Cobra Kai dojo, training in an aggressive form of karate. Johnny and his Cobra Kai gang (Bobby Brown, Tommy, Jimmy, and Dutch) constantly bully Daniel. At a Halloween dance, after Daniel sprays water on Johnny with a hose as payback, Johnny and his gang pursue Daniel down the street and brutally beat him, but Mr. Miyagi intervenes and easily defeats them.

Amazed, Daniel asks Mr. Miyagi to teach him karate. He declines but agrees to accompany Daniel to Cobra Kai to resolve the conflict. They meet the sensei, John Kreese, an ex-Special Forces Vietnam veteran who callously dismisses the peace offering. Miyagi then proposes that Daniel enter the Under 18 All-Valley Karate Championships, thereby compete against Kreese's students on equal terms, and requests that the bullying cease while he trains. Kreese agrees to the terms but warns that if Daniel does not show up for the tournament, the harassment will continue for both of them.

Daniel's training starts with days of menial chores that seemingly only serve to provide free labor for Miyagi. When he becomes frustrated, Miyagi demonstrates that repetition of these chores has helped Daniel to learn defensive blocks through muscle memory. Their bond develops, and Miyagi opens up to Daniel about his life, including the dual loss of his wife and son in childbirth at the Manzanar internment camp while he was serving with the 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II in Europe, where he received the Medal of Honor.

Through Mr. Miyagi's teaching, Daniel learns not only karate but also important life lessons such as the importance of personal balance, reflected in the principle that martial arts training is as much about training the spirit as the body. Daniel applies the life lessons Miyagi has taught him to strengthen his relationship with Ali. On Daniel's 18th birthday, Miyagi gives Daniel a Karate gi for the tournament and one of his classic cars.

At the tournament, Daniel surprises the audience and competitors by reaching the semi-finals. Johnny advances to the finals after scoring three unanswered points against Darryl Vidal. Kreese instructs his second-best student, Bobby, one of his more compassionate students and the least vicious of Daniel's tormentors, to disable Daniel with an illegal attack to the knee. Bobby reluctantly does so, severely injuring Daniel and getting himself disqualified in the process.

Daniel is taken to the locker room, where the physician determines that he cannot continue. However, Daniel believes that if he quits, his tormentors will have gotten the best of him. As a result, Daniel convinces Miyagi to use a pain suppression technique to help him continue. As Johnny is about to be declared the winner by default, Daniel returns to fight. The match is a seesaw battle, with neither able to break through the other's defense.

The match is halted when Daniel uses a scissor-leg technique to trip Johnny, delivering a blow to the back of his head and giving Johnny a nosebleed. Kreese directs Johnny to sweep Daniel's injured leg – an unethical move. Johnny looks horrified at the order but reluctantly agrees. As the match resumes and the score is tied 2–2, Johnny seizes Daniel's leg and deals a vicious elbow, doing further damage. Daniel, standing with difficulty, assumes the "Crane" stance, a technique he observed Mr. Miyagi performing on a beach. Johnny lunges toward Daniel, who jumps and executes a front kick to Johnny's chin, scoring the tournament-winning point and becoming the new champion. Johnny, having gained newfound respect for his nemesis, presents the trophy to Daniel himself, as Daniel is carried off by an enthusiastic crowd while Miyagi looks on proudly.

Cast

Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso
Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi
Elisabeth Shue as Ali Mills
Martin Kove as John Kreese
Randee Heller as Lucille LaRusso
William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence
Chad McQueen as Dutch
Ron Thomas as Bobby Brown
Tony O'Dell as Jimmy
Rob Garrison as Tommy
Pat E. Johnson as Head Referee

Production

Development

The Karate Kid is partly based on the life of its screenwriter, Robert Mark Kamen. At age 17, shortly after attending the 1964 New York World's Fair, Kamen was assaulted by a gang of bullies and began studying martial arts for self-defense. Unhappy with his first instructor, who promoted martial arts primarily as a means of violence and revenge, Kamen later trained in Okinawan Gōjū-ryū karate under a Japanese teacher who spoke no English but had studied with Chōjun Miyagi. Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, Anthony Edwards, C. Thomas Howell, Tom Cruise, Eric Stoltz and D. B. Sweeney.

Macchio later commented that the character was originally named "Danny Weber", but was later changed to "LaRusso".

Crispin Glover was the first choice to play Johnny, but the studio later opted for William Zabka. After his audition, Zabka saw Macchio, who noted that Zabka scared him during his audition to the studio. Zabka later recalled his audition, saying he was told to act out a scene from the script, while wearing a headband. He walked up to and grabbed John Avildsen, and said "Watch your mouth asshole!" He then exited the room and came back in, took his headband off and said that it was Johnny, not Billy. Avildsen then asked him about his age, and his height when compared to karate kid. Zabka responded, "Bruce Lee was smaller than Kareem Abdul Jabbar, but he beat him" in reference to Game of Death, to which Avildsen confirmed it. Avildsen was then convinced to cast Zabka for the role.

Helen Hunt and Demi Moore were also considered for the role of Ali, but Elisabeth Shue was cast based partly on a Burger King commercial that became widely popular in the early 1980s. The film marks the debut roles of both Zabka and Shue. and finished on December 16.

The film's fight choreographer for the combat scenes was Pat E. Johnson, a Tang Soo Do karate black belt who had previously been featured in Bruce Lee's American–Hong Kong martial arts film Enter the Dragon (1973) and worked with Chuck Norris at American Tang Soo Do martial arts schools. Johnson also makes an appearance as the referee in The Karate Kid. Pat Morita's stunt double for Mr. Miyagi, Fumio Demura, is also a karate black belt who had previously worked with Bruce Lee, who learnt some nunchaku techniques from Demura.

Soundtrack

The musical score for The Karate Kid was composed by Bill Conti, a frequent collaborator of director John G. Avildsen since their initial pairing on Rocky (1976). The instrumental score was orchestrated by Jack Eskew and featured pan flute solos by Gheorge Zamfir. On March 12, 2007, Varèse Sarabande released all four Karate Kid scores in a 4-CD box set limited to 2,500 copies worldwide.

A soundtrack album was released in 1984 by Casablanca Records containing many of the contemporary songs featured in the film. Of particular note is Joe Esposito's "You're the Best", featured during the tournament montage near the end of the first film. Originally written for Rocky III (1982), "You're the Best" was rejected by Sylvester Stallone in favor of Survivor's hit song "Eye of the Tiger".

|title1=The Moment of Truth

|note1=Survivor

|writer1=Dennis Lambert, Peter Beckett (lyrics); Bill Conti (music)

|length1=3:46

|title2=(Bop Bop) On the Beach

|note2=The Flirts, Jan and Dean

|writer2=Mike Love

|length2=2:47

|title3=No Shelter

|note3=Broken Edge

|writer3=John Mark, Richie Fenton

|length3=3:59

|title4=Young Hearts

|note4=Commuter

|writer4=David Merenda

|length4=3:38

|title5=(It Takes) Two to Tango

|note5=Paul Davis

|writer5=Lambert, Beckett

|length5=3:52